Morton Community Bank Increases Stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Morton Community Bank lifted its stake in shares of American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,835 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 603 shares during the quarter. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $3,232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of Stockton boosted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 5,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in American Electric Power by 3.9% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its holdings in American Electric Power by 14.8% during the second quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 902 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of American Electric Power by 7.8% during the 1st quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the company’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 13,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,185,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AEP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $99.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Guggenheim raised their price target on American Electric Power from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on American Electric Power from $91.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of American Electric Power from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, LADENBURG THALM/SH SH raised shares of American Electric Power from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $86.00 in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.77.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $102.05. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,659,214 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,243,136. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $89.61. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $69.38 and a 1-year high of $104.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by $0.02. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $4.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.13 earnings per share. American Electric Power’s quarterly revenue was up 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Electric Power Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.88 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $3.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.31%.

American Electric Power Company Profile

American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.